Jackal Among Snakes

Argrave told Galamon, Durran, and the very out-of-place Silvic that he and Anneliese intended to check up on their books before rejoining the party to discuss what needed to be done. Silvic asked to bury Drezki, and his companions saw to that task alongside her so that no issues would arise with the Waxknights or other residents.

“Was almost like things correcting themselves,” Argrave mused as he pushed open the door, stepping inside. “Drezki… god damn it. Why did it have to end like that? I should’ve…”

“Should have what?” Anneliese pressed.

Argrave stopped beside the half-open door. “I don’t know. Should have known better. Should have taken measures.”

“People tell you time and time again that way of thinking leads nowhere. When will you heed that lesson?” she questioned.

“Lot easier to say that than to do it. Don’t deny you ask the same thing,” Argrave refuted.

Anneliese just grabbed his wrist, giving it a solemn squeeze. It reminded him he wasn’t the only one affected by the things that happened around him. He flashed a bitter smile, then said, “Hopefully that little display helps keep Durran cautious.”

“Durran is different than he was before,” Anneliese said. “I don’t think he will cause trouble as he did in the Lionsun Castle.”

“I definitely hope not,” Argrave shook his head, stepping within the room and glancing about. He took a mental inventory of all within. Everything was as neat and orderly as it had been left. Then, his eyes fell upon something he had not been expecting to see—a human figure, greatly distorted by illusion magic.

At once, Argrave raised his hand up and formed the matrix for a fast-acting lightning spell, the C-rank [Skysunder]. With a yelp, the person threw themselves behind Argrave’s bed, shouting, “Wait!”

Argrave kept his hand raised, but said tentatively, “Mina?”

Anneliese stepped within the room cautiously, coming to stand shoulder to shoulder with Argrave.

Mina gingerly raised her head above the bed, and Argrave lowered his hand with mouth agape. “What in the hell are you doing here?” he demanded.

“Last time it was a book, now you nearly throw a spell at me?” Mina said incredulously, rising up a little further.

Mina of Veden had changed a great deal from when Argrave had last seen her. As ever, she looked like a cat, but some maturity shone through on her face. Her once shoulder-length yellow hair had grown much longer than that, and her yellow eyes seemed tired.

“I never expected to deal with this situation a second time,” he shook his head. “I’ll ask again—what the hell, Mina?”

“I’m sorry, I am! It’s different this time. I was expecting you to come back, wanted to talk to you!” Mina said urgently.

Argrave scratched his cheek. “Yet you still use an illusion spell, just the same as ever.”

“Because I thought I’d win, this time,” she shook her head. “Gods be damned.”

He briefly recalled their little game of whether or not she would surprise him and snorted. Argrave stepped away and looked around, and seeing no one was present, shut the door. “Why aren’t you at Mateth?” he began, stepping back into the room. “Why are you here? Looking to follow the current trend, catch a life-threatening disease?”

Mina’s yellow eyes gazed up at him. “You don’t know, do you?” she questioned, then shook her head. “Hah. I guess it’s my world, but really, no one knows besides me.” She shook her head, then looked up at Argrave. “I thought I changed a lot, but you… you changed a lot,” she noted, sizing him up. “You look… healthier. Scarier,” she admitted.

Argrave waited patiently. He could tell she was dodging the question because she found it painful to answer. That alone was answer enough, he supposed.

She stepped around and sat on Argrave’s bed, arms crossed. “Why do people say you call her your fiancée?” she gestured with her chin towards Anneliese. “Why are your eyes all… all wrong?”

Argrave sighed, and Anneliese conjured a ward that the three of them might speak privately. Mina watched her warily.

“I remember her,” she pointed. “She’s the elven woman you brought from the land of the snow elves.”

“’Brought’ is a poor choice of words,” Argrave said as he nodded. “Her name is Anneliese, in case you forgot. And yes, for all intents and purposes, we are engaged. I’ve answered one of yours, now time for mine—why aren’t you at Mateth?” He came to stand over her.

“You said you were never wrong about these things,” she said bitterly, her throat seized up. “Nicky sent me away. She said that… it wasn’t right, and that she was sorry.”

Though Argrave wasn’t exactly blindsided by her answer, it did make him feel much worse than he expected. The fact that Mina was desperately trying to stop herself from being emotional about it made it strike all the deeper, he found.

“And here you are,” she continued, sniffling once. “With a fiancée, whom you spend the whole night with, keeping the whole keep up with… moans, and…”

“Hey, woah woah woah,” Argrave held his finger out. “I don’t know what kind of twisted fantasies are brewing in that head of yours, but put them out of your mind. If there’s anything ‘heated’ going on in this room at night, it’s heated talks about magic and history,” he pointed to the books around the room.

Anneliese hid her face with one hand despite the fact that it was covered by a mask and shook her head. Argrave was still sure he saw a faint smile of amusement, though.

“Please. Magnus seemed to have mistaken me for your spurned lover, and so he divulged everything about you two,” she shook her head. “He was trying to turn me against you, I know. He’s a rude bastard…”

“Magnus,” Argrave lifted his head up and nodded, face blanking as his half-brother’s name came out once more. Argrave spared a glance at Anneliese, and she nodded as though she knew what he was thinking.

It was very obvious that Magnus was trying to impede Argrave at every turn. It went against what he knew of Magnus—as far as he knew, he and ‘Argrave’ had no animosity between the two of them. It was clear to him that something needed to be done about this. He just wasn’t certain what, yet.

Argrave turned his head back to Mina. “You know, Anneliese and I spent one night in this keep. And… well, whatever,” he finally surrendered. “Think what you want—I can’t stop you. But why did you come here, of all places? You don’t appear ill. Not yet, at least…” he glanced around the room. “You ought to wear one of these masks… keep your health up…” he stepped around, searching for the solemn white Humorless Masks.

“Induen came to Veden,” Mina disclosed, looking at Argrave. “I figured you might have some answers about that whole situation.”

Argrave turned back to Mina slowly, face taut. “I think we ought to spend some time catching up, then. It seems there’s a lot to talk about.”

#####

Argrave and Anneliese had a long conversation with Mina of Veden. As things proceeded, all of them loosened up a great deal—misunderstandings were resolved, animosity was put to bed, and mutual understanding was established. Despite everything, Mina knew that Argrave alone could not be held responsible for Nikoletta’s choice. She appeared to be placing her position as the heir to the Duke before her own desire for happiness.

Knowing it was Nikoletta’s choice didn’t make Argrave feel less guilty, of course. He felt like he’d ruined something. He didn’t tell Mina, but he resolved to repair what had been broken.

Their conversation lasted the entire night. At first, they spoke of Mina’s situation. Apparently, the time she’d spent with Nikoletta and Duke Enrico in a city devoted to trade and administration had enlightened her about the importance of proper management, and she used the lessons about order and efficiency learned to solve the refugee crisis at Veden.

But inevitably, Argrave had to explain how he’d changed, and what he’d done to do so. That took up the bulk of the conversation, and though Argrave felt it was a somewhat disdainful waste of time to recount something that had no bearing on what they were to be doing, he did so. Not without complaint, though.

That topic led them to why Argrave was here, something he disclosed readily. Apparently, Nikoletta had long ago informed Mina of his fight against Gerechtigkeit. He resented that Nikoletta could not keep a secret, but Mina told no others, and it was not genuinely harmful if rumor of it did spread. It was, ultimately, one of his long-term goals to propagate information about the coming calamity.

Eventually, Argrave arranged a place to stay for Mina alongside Durran, Galamon, and the wetland spirit Silvic. He gave her a spare Humorless Mask of Anneliese’s. They agreed to discuss things tomorrow, when both were better rested.

Once things had settled, he was finally alone with Anneliese, a fact he was glad of.

“You say Magnus was scared, terrified earlier?” he asked her, sitting on his bedside.

“Desperately so,” Anneliese confirmed.

Argrave lowered his head, thinking in silence for a long while. As his brain spun for explanations, he half-hoped Anneliese would interject. She always had bright ideas—things that he’d missed, perspective he lacked. But she stayed silent, offering no further insight.

“Considering the possibilities…” Argrave began, leading the conversation. “Elenore’s an option. A likely option, too—she has the resources to make Magnus move. Plenty of money, plenty of non-monetary assets. Yet…” Argrave shook his head. “I don’t know if she could terrify him as you mention. Magnus is… fearless, despite everything.”

“Induen, then? Or the other brother you mentioned, Levin? Even Felipe?” Anneliese continued his train of thought.

“Induen... well, he is nearby,” Argrave conceded. “Levin is pretty ruthless, with a certain low cunning to him. Felipe is probably too busy rallying the north and keeping his court in line, but maybe he could. Even still, once again, could they terrify Magnus? And what would be their motive to have him impede me, specifically? On top of all of that, I can’t picture how they would know I’m here. No—Magnus was doing something here before I arrived and wants to stop because I’m interfering.”

“I suppose that is all that fits,” Anneliese nodded. “Yet what would be his motive to continue the plague?”

“I don’t know. He could just be worthless trash, human scum, that kind of thing…” Argrave rubbed his mouth with his hand, losing himself in thought. As a stray thought came to him, he laughed.

“What?” Anneliese looked at him expectantly.

“Maybe it was Gerry,” Argrave posited in jest. Anneliese looked at him blankly, so he clarified, “Gerechtigkeit.”

Anneliese did not join him in laughter, but rather genuinely considered it, tilting her head.

“Come on,” Argrave said at once. “Just a joke.”

“…you must admit it does fit,” Anneliese said in quiet ponderance.

“Yeah, that’s why it’s funny,” Argrave nodded. Seeing she was still on this point, Argrave gave an exhausted sigh and rose to his feet, walking around. “I don’t know… Gerechtigkeit doesn’t really work with collaborators. He just destroys and ruins things at the right time so everything falls apart. He demolishes the most essential pillar in a building, and the rest crumbles naturally.”

“In your experience,” Anneliese pointed out. “Why else would Magnus be so diametrically opposed to everything you do? Why else would he be terrified? You claimed the man is a psychopath—he does not feel much of anything, searches out for anything that spurs emotion at all—what else could terrify that gray slate he is more than a god-like entity?” she spoke quickly as though a theory formed in her head.

“That’s… verging on paranoia,” Argrave shook his head a little and then pointed at Anneliese, walking close to her and kneeling right before her face where she sat. “If we take it there, let’s take it further back. Titus. Too much off-course happened in the Burnt Desert for that to be some ripple effect from the little beating of my butterfly’s wings.”

Anneliese furrowed her white brows. “Do you… is that… is that even possible?” she questioned. “Can the calamity play such a heavy hand in this world before his advent?”

“I don’t know,” Argrave admitted. “I don’t know the extent of his influence. I don’t know what he can and can’t have a hand in. That was never clearly defined, and all of his schemes in 'Heroes of Berendar' began before the game started. That's part of the reason I never considered it. Gerry was never reactive. I'm not even sure if this is possible. All of it might just be a red herring, useless paranoia."

Anneliese nodded, processing his words. "Then... what has he done? What do you know?"

"All I know about his influence on people, specifically, is that he’s responsible for a lot of the craziness in the royal family. The first queen dying in childbirth—that was him. The second queen’s insanity—all of this was specifically tailored to ruin Felipe’s mental state, cause Vasquer’s decline,” he explained. “You might argue he affected people’s minds. But why would he go after Magnus instead of me? Why wouldn’t the big G use 5G to fry my brain, personally?”

“What are you saying?” Anneliese said, losing the thread of the conversation.

“I’ve got no idea,” Argrave stood up and paced around. “Alright. Alright. Ultimately, we’re just fumbling around in the dark.”

“Come here,” Anneliese tapped the side of the bed, and Argrave obediently walked over and sat beside her.

Argrave took some time to relax. It felt like a gray curtain had washed over him—mounting stress that had reached its breaking point. “I’m at a loss, Anneliese.”

She wrapped one arm around his shoulders. “All we have presently are suspicions,” she said slowly.

“That’s right,” he nodded, listening intently.

“Yet we have a method to confirm those suspicions,” she continued. “Magnus is still here, within the camp. And given his dogged interference, it would be prudent to deal with him before we set out on this expedition. He is but a man, even still. We need not look for the backer when the agent is in arm’s reach.”

Argrave’s bleak outlook grew a little brighter with Anneliese’s counsel. Eventually, he nodded. “Yeah. Even if it is urgent to deal with this plague as quickly as possible, it’s also best to do it right. I’m sure it’ll take some time for the expedition to get ready… and even if not, I can get Orion to delay. I have to make sure we do it perfectly. This isn’t something we can afford to muck up. If the Plague doesn’t end, we can say goodbye to any chances of an easy victory. And while we’re dealing with Magnus, we can identify other factors that might impede the whole thing.”

“Precisely,” she nodded.

Argrave looked up towards the ceiling. “Gerechtigkeit… I wonder if he’s listening.” Argrave cracked his knuckles. “That’d be an interesting turn of events. He gets to listen as I shoot his damn plans into the dust.”